Leeds United have been dealt an injury blow ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Nottingham Forest in their first outing of 2019.

Striker Patrick Bamford has been ruled out of the game at the City Ground against his former club, after failing to recover from a knee injury picked up in training.

Bamford, who moved to Elland Road from Middlesbrough in the summer for an initial £7m, had been out with a knee problem sustained earlier in the season, but returned to Marcelo Bielsa’s side and scored the winner at Bolton earlier this month.

Prior to the dramatic late win at Aston Villa, Bamford suffered a separate knee issue which kept him out of Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at home to struggling Hull, and the two previous fixtures before that.

Bielsa expects the 25-year-old to return to action in the new year, but he will miss the Trentside reunion on New Year’s Day, with both clubs looking to return to winning ways after defeats at the weekend.

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